Just Get Back Up
by ShangriLa Merffles
Summary: Sakura fell, this is the story of her getting back up again. ShikaSakuNeji. A bit of Sasuke bashing later on coz I really don't like him. R and R please.
1. The Fallen Just Sits There

Notes: Wow, this is my first fanfic that I'm gonna post on I wrote this while I was locked out of my house for 3 hours in the freezing cold. Please be nice to me and review.

I don't know why I'm writing a Sakura fic. I'm not a big Sakura fan, I mean she is so useless. But I'm kinda mad at Kishimoto who's the creator of Naruto because he isn't giving females enough credit. I was disappointed at the lack of character growth on all the female characters. You don't even have to look closely at the manga to know that all the powerful people are males and Kishimoto doesn't really go anywhere with his female characters.

Pairing: Well, I had the sudden idea of a **ShikaSakuNeji** love triangle. And my definition of a love triangle is both loves Sakura, Sakura can't choose. So this will probably turn out to be quite fun though it might change if none of you like the idea. Or I might toss another crazy guy in there just make it more interesting. I think this will be the first of this love triangle on and I hope you guys enjoy!

**Thank you my dear cousin Daniel for getting me interested in NARUTO!!! hugz and kissez**

Disclaimer: I do not own … ummm Kiba! Who's Naruto? I don't know if I own it or not scratches head. Oh, and I don't own Rock Lee coz he's kinda freaky, though the devotion breaks my heart.

Just Get Back Up Chapter One: The Fallen Just Sits There 

It was a day in the middle of summer, Sakura sighed as she slowly walked down the road. In her hands were groceries that she forced herself to buy so that she wouldn't be starving or waking up in the middle of the night and messing up the house trying to find something still edible in the fridge.

She took the shortcut through the middle of the woods to her house on the other side of it. Sakura sighed again, seems like that she's been doing that quite a bit lately. Ever since that fateful day her parents, ANBU members were killed by Hidden Stone shinobi during a mission.

It's been a year already, but she still misses them terribly. They were close, like the perfect family. They did all the activities a regular family did. She could still remember two summers ago when they took a vacation in Hidden Snail Village at the beach. That was a magical summer, one that she'll never forget.

But Sakura's time of happiness has now passed; it's just her now, alone. Feeling lonely everyday, waking up and slugging through breakfast that consists of something instant in a box. Sakura never cooked if she had to, she sucked at it. The one time she tried make breakfast a couple months ago, she discovered that oil ignites when it gets too hot. After that significant milestone in her cooking career, she never turned on the stove again.

As Sakura wandered down the well-used trail to her house, she sighed yet again. More and more depressed. Now she understands what it was like for her teammates Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, to grow up as an orphan, without anyone, to have that hole in their heart every time they see a happy family together.

Sakura was luckier; at least she had parents for 12 years of her life while Naruto didn't even know his parents and Sasuke had to watch his entire clan slaughtered in from of his own eyes. Or maybe this just made it harder for her, her parents were so real, they were everything to her.

She still remembers the vacation they took two years ago at Hidden Snail Village. They spent weeks frolicking by the beach, canoeing through the fjords by the ocean and eating exotic seafood. Seemed like only yesterday that Sakura's mom scolded her for ruining yet another pot when she tried to boil water. But the truth is, it was over a year ago and it would never happen again.

She exited the woods and went up the steps to her house. Sakura gently set the groceries on the porch while she rummaged around her pockets looking for the keys. She no longer wore the symbolic red dress and green biker shorts. She had exchanged them for a red mesh shirt and black cargos. The hair, still the same cotton candy pink is kept short like it was during the Chunnin Exam.

She had thought of dying it black when her parents died. The pink was too cheerful, to bright and too happy. She was none of those in the months that followed the funeral. But in the end, she decided to keep it pink, it was who she was, and she could remember her mother, who had the longest, silkiest and most gorgeous pink hair.

Opening the door, she stepped in with the groceries. Hearing her stomach rumble, Sakura decided that she was hungry and proceeded to put away all the groceries. Now she opened her cupboards and looked around. Cups and boxes of instant udon, instant ramen, instant chow mien and instant sushi stared back at her. Not much of a choice. She randomly selected a box of instant udon and heated some water.

Life is boring she decided, Sakura had trained all day, she pathetically tried some taijutsu moves to no avail. Truth to be told, she sucked at it. Her kicks did nothing, her punches were off and she was too damn slow not to mention she had the endurance of a pig.

This wasn't fair, Sakura wasn't stupid, to the contrary, she was brilliant, the smartest of all the Gennins who graduated from the academy. The only one who was probably as smart as her was Shikamaru, and he got to be a Chunnin. It wasn't that Sakura didn't try, she did. Just not as hard as Sasuke and Naruto. Even if she did try, she was always overlooked by them anyways, so she just gave up.

Sakura accepted the fact that she could never be as strong as Sasuke and Naruto a long time ago. She just gave up on trying, gave up on caring.

It wasn't her fault that she was just so ordinary, and ordinary she was. Her family was small, unknown by most, they possessed no bloodline ability like the Uchihas and their Sharingan or the Hyuugas and their Byakugan. She couldn't control various bugs and insects like Aburame Shino and his clan. Sakura also had no special connection with dogs like Kiba and his dog Akamaru. She also lacked for a special jutsu like her friend Ino's Mind Switching Jutsu or Chouji's Human Bowling Ball jutsu.

Sakura wouldn't even want to have a demon in her body. Not that she hates Naruto or anything, it's just that the whole thing with Gaara really freaked her out. I mean who wouldn't be scared after you were nearly suffocated under a massive clump of sand by a red haired sand nin who was way too irrational for her liking.

Sakura finished the rest of the udon and drank the soup and made a face, it tasted like preservatives and lots of salt, sodium and other unhealthy stuff. She then proceeded to dump out the rest of the soup and chuck the container out. With yet another sigh she brushed her teeth and promptly went to sleep, after all, it has been an eventful day.

There was the clashing of weapons hitting off of each other and the soft thumps of whacks and thumps as hits were exchanged. There was a snake-faced man who was grinning evilly and skillfully dodging everything. She recognized that face. A face that made her freeze with panic. Orochimaru.

Sakura had never forgot that face, ever since the Forest of Death from the Chunnin Exam, she had been constantly thinking about him. He scared her, there was no doubt. Naruto and Sasuke were scared too. They all were. This is a legendary Sennin they're talking about.

Sasuke and Naruto were giving everything they had to try and hit Orochimaru and Orochimaru didn't even break a sweat avoiding the attacks. Where was Kakashi-sensei? Not that Kakashi-sensei would've stood a chance against Orochimaru. But it would've helped even the odds a bit.

Sasuke's Chidori and Naruto's Rasenagan were brushed away by Orochimaru like a mere ant. None of their attacks seemed to faze Orochimaru. And this made Orochimaru grin. It was a nasty grin, a grin of pure malice and evil enjoyment.

They launched to their feet again but this time, Sakura could only stare in horror as Orochimaru laughed and launched some forbidden jutsu at Sasuke, which made him knock into Naruto. They both slammed into a tree, the tree cracked and gained a hole in it from the powerful momentum the two boys slammed into the tree with.

Sakura couldn't move, she tried to scream only to find that her voice was gone. She tried to make her legs move, but there was nothing there. Sasuke and Naruto weren't getting up and Orochimaru was approaching her with that diabolical grin of his on his face. Her frantic heart beat louder and her eyes widened in a look of pure terror like mice right before a cat ripped of their head.

No one was coming to rescue her this time, she was all alone. If only she could do something, if only she wasn't so helpless. If only she wasn't so damn helpless…

Orochimaru was right in front of her, and Sakura found that she could not tear her eyes from Orochimaru's dark and malevolence eyes that seemed to suck your soul out. He reached out his arm and grabbed Sakura's neck.

She tried to flinch, but she couldn't, Orochimaru smiled and Sakura was suddenly very much afraid of that snake-like tongue. Orochimaru lowered his head and she could feel his tongue on her head. Swirling over her skin, sucking and tasting her.

She was afraid, very much afraid. Orochimaru now took her mouth and brutally shoved his tongue in it. She could feel him in her mouth, but nothing could be done.

She felt Orochimaru pull her towards him, and tried to think. But it is really hard to think when the bad guy is running his hands up and down her thighs. Sakura suddenly had a burst of anger, is this all she was worth? Was she just a thing to be raped?

Summoning strength she didn't know that she had, she bit down on her tongue just as Orochimaru pulled her in for another kiss and closed her eyes. There was intense pain.

Suddenly everything disappeared and all was quiet, she forced her eyes to open, it was still dark and she was lying in her bed, covered in a film of cold sweat. She could still feel her heart pounding in her chest like the tribal drums when Tsunade became the 5th Hokage.

Her tongue hurt, she reached up to touch it. The fingers came back red, she was bleeding. She had bitten it, and for once, Sakura was glad that she was bleeding.

She shuddered, still remembering the dream; she shook her head a couple times and blinked as if trying to shake the nightmare away. It didn't work. Sakura was still stuck with the image of Orochimaru violating her, touching her, tasting her.

Now she was angry all over again. If she were stronger, this wouldn't have happened, if she did something, this wouldn't have happened, if she weren't so fucking helpless, this definitely wouldn't have happened. So when it comes down to it, it was all Sakura's fault.

She knew it, and she hated it. All her life, she's been passed over and ignored; she just wanted someone to pay a bit of attention to her, was that too much to ask?

Yes, she had fallen. And it was her fault that she gave up and refused to get back up again. But now, she decided, after sitting on the cold hard ground all this time that she was stronger than that. She didn't need to just sit on the ground and wait for someone will pull her up. She can get up herself, and she didn't need anyone to help her up.

But she does need a suitable teacher, and she grinned, tomorrow she decided, she would go and have a nice long talk with the Hokage. And then hopefully she'll get someone decent to train her.

For now, she rolled over and fell asleep again, this time with a hidden strength inside of her.

End of Chapter Two 

…tbc

REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! So please do, 42 times, since that's the answer to the meaning of life.

Oh yeah, if anyone's interested into beta-ing for me, I would really appreciate it. High school is so busy. sighz Email me at .

Merffles


	2. Why Should I Get Up

Notes: Sorry for the loooooooong wait. My computer had to be re-formatted twice. So this chapter is dedicated to the guy who fixed my computer. THANK YOU computer technician guy, I kinda forgot his name…

Wow, ten reviews. Incredible. Thanks to all of you guys. Responses are at the end of my chapter. And sorry for the misspelling of Uchiha, I have no idea why it turned out like that. Thanks to kreuz4eva for pointing it out.

This is the second chappie of Just Get Back Up. Spent four hours writing this. I never realized how long it takes for an author to write. Or maybe it's just me who's slow. How long does it take for you guys anyways?

Disclaimer: I don't own Sasuke, I don't want to own Sasuke. I mean he acts like there's something always up his ass, maybe Itachi kept on doing the "1000 Years of Pain" thing to him when he was a child. Now Naruto on the other hand…

**Just Get Back Up Chapter Two: Why Should I Get Up?**

The alarm blared loudly at seven o'clock in the morning, jarring Sakura from her sleep. She grumbled, turned over and bashed her fist against the infernal alarm clock that dared to wake her up. She sat up and groaned, it was Annual Assessment Week. The Jounnin in charge of the squad was supposed to spend the week having conference with parents and talk about goals and how to reach them. They were also supposed to set up improvements charts and stuff. And there was lots of meeting with the Ninja Training board. Mostly paperwork for the Jounnin in charge so Kakashi-sensei being the lazy usually skipped it.

Sakura sighed, even though the whole team didn't have parents, Kakashi-sensei still gave them the week off. She tried to go back to sleep, tossing and turning here and there. But it was no use, the sun was up, and rays of golden beams shot across the room lighting everything up. With a growl, Sakura slowly got up, and slowly made her way to the shower.

Turning the shower knobs, Sakura barely winced as a jet of ice-cold water hit her. This was a daily routine and she didn't mind the cold anymore, it was numbing, in a pleasant manner. After just standing in the shower getting soaked up by the cold water, she decided that it was enough and proceeded to turn the water off.

Sakura stepped out of the shower and took a large fluffy towel off the rack and dried herself thoroughly. She looked at herself in the mirror, even though she no longer made herself look pretty for Sasuke, she didn't want to walk out the door looking like a circus clown. Her bright green eyes stared back at her, however different from the eyes that stared back yesterday morning, today's eyes had a flickering ember in it, for anyone willing to coax that ember into a fire.

She wandered into the kitchen and yawned even though the shower woke her up already. Sakura sat down and poured herself milk and some lucky charms. She thought about yesterday's dream while she munched on the lucky charms.

The dream was so real, so frightening, and Sakura hated herself for being so helpless, for not being able to do anything. She wanted to train, to learn new techniques, but it didn't help if there was no teacher.

Sure, Kakashi was great, nice and powerful, but he's been spending all his time with Sasuke after he received the curse seal from Orochimaru. Even Naruto is partially being ignored by Kakashi-sensei. But Naruto had Jiraiya, despite being a hentai; he was a Sennin and one the most powerful person in leaf. Naruto would sometimes leave on training missions with Jiraiya for months. This left Sakura all alone and ignored as Kakashi-sensei would also take Sasuke and leave.

Sakura decided that she would talk to Tsunade-sama if she could train with another teacher. It's not like she's ditching Team Seven though, it's just that she was tired of being ignored, tired of being overlooked by everyone just because Naruto and Sasuke was on her team. She wanted to do something. And strangely, almost like Naruto, she wanted to be acknowledged for who she is.

Sakura giggled, something's gotta be wrong, she's acting like Naruto now, and that's just phreaky. One Naruto is more than enough. Maybe she's caught the Narutoflu, the "act like Naruto" bug that Naruto's been spreading around the village.

After washing the dishes and grabbing her shuriken hostler and a kunai pack, she walked out and headed in the direction of the Konoha headquarters.

As she walked, her mind wandered. The first thing that came to her mind, by habit was Sasuke. Sakura no longer liked him. One day, she woke up and the feeling was gone. She didn't feel any different, but the desire for Sasuke somehow went out. Needless to say, she was tired of it anyways.

Who could be that devoted to the ice block and still remain sane? She stopped clinging on to him, stopped asking him out and stopped paying special attention to him. It's not like he was going to care.

"Does he know that I don't like him anymore?" Sakura wondered. "Oh well" she finally sighed. It's not like Sasuke ever cared. Some would wonder if Sasuke truly is gay. No straight guy would ignore half of Konoha's female population to train.

Sakura finally concluded that Sasuke defiantly needed someone to kick his ass and tell him to stop being a stuck up brat who only wants revenge. That whole revenge thing was getting old; she wouldn't be surprised if it was moldy by now. Too bad she wasn't strong enough to kick him to hell and back yet, but hopefully one, that would happen.

Then there is Naruto, not much has changed about him. He still chased after her endlessly, and she no longer had the energy to chase him away. He was there for her when her parents died. She spent days hugging him and crying onto his shoulder. There was a deep friendship between them now.

Naruto wasn't as loud and annoying as before. Though sometimes he would loudly ramble about something, that's when Inner Sakura popped out and hit him till he was unconscious. She saw Naruto in a different light ever since the Chunnin Exam after he saved her from a crazed sand ninja named Gaara who transformed and went crazy. She had almost died when she tried to protect Sasuke and ended up being suffocated under the grip of the sand. It was Naruto who fought Gaara and won and saved her.

Sakura haven't seen Naruto for a couple weeks now too, he and Jiraiya had left for some distant village to train a couple weeks ago and she hasn't heard from them ever since. Sasuke was probably training too. That's all he's been doing ever since the Chunnin Exam. One of these days, he'll end up marrying Training, and it's not like he'll get any Uchida heirs from training.

As Sakura neared the village headquarters, she wondered what she should say to the Lady Hokage. Sakura walked in the building and went to see the receptionist. Thank Kami-sama that she got here early, nobody else was crazy enough to get up at seven to seen Tsunade-sama.

"Go right in, don't knock, if you knock, she'll just ignore you. If she's asleep, please wake her up." The receptionist told Sakura dryly.

Sakura slowly made her way into the office, she pushed open the door and gasped. Papers were everywhere, loads and loads of it. This place was messier than Naruto's apartment and that's saying something. And in the middle of the mess was Tsunade with a snot bubble coming out of her nose, fast asleep.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked again, louder.

Finally losing her patience, Sakura yelled, "LADY HOKAGE!!! WAKE UP!!! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!!! IT'S IMPORTANT!!!" Still Tsunade didn't even budge.

Sakura growled, this really was trying her patience. Then she thought of something that would defiantly wake Tsunade up. "THAT HENTAI JIRAIYA IS PROMOTING HIS BOOKS AT THE NINJA ACADEMY!!!!"

Tsunade suddenly sat up, eyes huge, "WHAT??? I'm going to kill that perverted phreak!!!"

"Calm down Lady Hokage, I only said that to wake you up." Smirked Sakura, dammit, she is really acting like Sasuke like that. Oh great, no something's really going on about her, acting like your teammates does not improve your sanity.

"Oh, it's just you Sakura, what's the matter? You almost never come and talk to me, what's a lonely old lady going to do?" asked Tsunade.

"I need a teacher." Stated Sakura bluntly.

"What?!?!?!"

"I need someone to train me" Sakura explained.

"Why? What's wrong with Kakashi? Was he reading his Icha Icha Paradise to you again? That guy really doesn't have any morals." Tsunade seethed, sure the guy was one of the strongest Jounnins around, but that does not give him the right to read porn while teaching. Thing about all the poor innocent minds that are being tainted.

"Oh no, I don't think Kakashi-sensei would so that. It's just that, well, Kakashi's pretty much spending all his time with Sasuke. Naruto has Jiraiya to train with. And I'm pretty much left all alone. I need a teacher since there is only so much stuff I can learn on my own. Even an hour or two a day is fine."

"Well.." Thinks Tsunade. "We have no spare teachers now, most of our shinobi is running mission due to the war between us and the leaf, I'm sorry Sakura, but it's just not possible now."

"But you don't understand, I need a teacher." Said Sakura determined. She really wanted to continue being a Kunochi, the only reason she isn't going anywhere is because no body paid any attention to her. Always overlooked by the other two members in her team.

Tsunade saw the determination in her eyes and saw something. Maybe she was reminded of when she was still a Gennin, in the same team as Jiraiya and Orochimaru. She had the same determination as well, the same fire in the eyes. Tsunade gave in and sighed. "Fine you can train with me"

"Really? I never expected…" Sakura was shocked. She had never expected that she would be training with the Lady Hokage. Like this is the most powerful person in the village.

"Yes, mind you, it would only be about one to two hours a day. And the training will be hard, so I want you to be serious about this." Inwardly, Tsunade hit herself, what had she gotten herself into now? Wasn't her life already complex enough by doing paperwork?

"Of course, I wont let you down. Arigato so much!!!" Sakura smiled. She was so happy! She had a chance now, a chance to be known and a chance to prove to everyone that she wasn't weak.

"Just be here tomorrow afternoon at three and we'll see what you're made of." Tsunade shook her head, life was a lot simpler when she wasn't the Lady Hokage. She missed the days she would roam the town with Shizune gambling to earn a living.

"Dammit" she thought, now so much resposibilities. "How does Kakashi do it?"

Sakura happily skipped out of the village headquarters. She finally got a teacher, and not just any teacher, this was the Hokage. She grinned, life is defiantly getting better, not only had she gotten up by herself, she was actually getting somewhere.

…tbc

End of Chapter Two

I'm begging for reviews!!! If you want me to update sooner, please review. I would usually never put cliffies; I think that's just mean. I personally hate them myself and I don't want to torture my readers like this.

I actually wrote some other ficcies that I just haven't gotten around to posting yet, one's a Neji POV thing Master of My Destiny. Got a Gaara fic too Hurt of the Heart.

Also has some gundam seed stuff…

Responses:

Neon Sakura: Yay, thanks for being my first reviewer, it means a lot to me.

Alternative-Naruto-Pairer: I loved your ShikaSaku fic. I think they're so cute together, their kids will have like super high IQ.

Scorpion50: I like them together too, but yeah, Shika and Neji won't be coming in till Chapter Three.

Krueze4eva: I read your story and I like it so far, please update soon. And thanks for pointing the spelling out. If you look at the ratio of strong males to strong females, you can see that the female section is really lagging behind.

Blitzballkat: Yeah, I would like there too be more outstanding females in Naruto too.

silent nox2: Yeah, I really dislike Sasuke, but he'll probably show up. Mixing Neji, Sakura and Shikamaru is going to be quite crazy.

Ashley: I tried to update, but my computer was quite busted. Don't worry, the third chapter will come along soon now that I got my computer back up and running.

Yoko: Yeah, Orochimaru is quite weird. I always thought he was gay, especially with the way he lusted after Sasuke. Now that he's molested Sakura, I figured him bi.

TearsoftheInnocents: Yeah, I will be writing faster now. But I'm also producing a doujin, so I need to divide the time up or else nothing's gonna get done.

Scarletmoon12: Yes, Orochimaru is quite a freak, sooner of later he will find that immortality is not all that great, the stress will get to him and then he will try to commit suicide. But by then he will find out that he can't die so he will live the rest of eternity out as a hermit.

So… 

REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! So please do, 42 times, since that's the answer to the meaning of 

Merffles


	3. Slipping and Sliding

Gomen Ne! I am so sorry that this chapter took so long to upload. But I just didn't feel like finishing this chapter. Thing is, I was writing 8 different stories all at once, and they're all three quarters done. But I just didn't feel like finishing them.

_Sakura: That's not true, you just didn't want me to meet with Neji and Shikamaru!_

_Merffles: Of course not!_

_INNER SAKURA: How dare you keep me from my soul mates! punches authoress in the face_

_Merffles: How dare you, keep this up and I'll make you lesbian and sick you with Ino-pig._

_Sakura/INNER SAKURA: pouts_

The truth is, Naruto started sucking, ever since after the Chunnin Exam, it started going downhill. The scenes were more dragged out and laggy, almost like Dragonball Z. So I got pretty fed up and moved on to Bleach and therefore not finishing this chapter. But then thanks to the prodding of my reviewers who kept on urging me to update here I am, finished another chapter and started on the next already.

Also to those people who flamed me, flames are given to my bodyguard Neji who used them to roast marshmallows, which me fed me of course. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I owned Naruto, I would've turned Sasuke into a flamingo or perhaps a dodo and perhaps Orochimaru into a goldfish. Lol. How I wish I owned Naruto.

Just Get Back Up Chapter 3: Slipping and Sliding

By Merffles

Sakura groaned and flipped over and shoved her head under her pillow. Bright rays of light stung her eyes as she blinked rapidly when she sat up. Falling right back down onto her bed, she promptly rolled over and squinted at her alarm clock, 11:39 AM. Holy hell had Sakura slept in late. Usually she would wake up at 6 AM, Shower, eat breakfast, dress and be at the bridge by 7AM even though she always had to wait a couple hours for Kakashi sensei to arrive.

"I really should be preparing myself for training this afternoon with Tsunade-sama." Sakura thought, but her laziness overpowered her logic reasoning since her body refused to budge from the warm confinement of her bed.

"Get up, just move your body and get up." Sakura told her body. "Get the hell up!" and with that, in a haste to get up, she tripped on her covers and ended up with her face smashed to the ground and her legs tangled up in her covers on the bed.

Needless to say, this was turning out to be a bad morning of a supposedly extremely beautiful day.

Sakura swore, somewhat violently, it was a phrase she had picked up from her cranky old neighbor when she was doing target practice and one of her ill thrown kunais nearly sliced his ear off. Of course, after learning not to go near her neighbor again, she had also picked up that particularly useful phrase.

Sakura finally untangled herself from the mess of covers, bed sheets and assorted pillows and trudged herself to the bathroom feeling very pissed. She breathed out in bliss as water surged out of the showerhead and hit her full on, that's when she realized a, the water was a scalding hot and it burned her skin and b, she was still in her pajamas.

"Shit." and came out a whole bunch of other swear words generously donated by her neighbor who did not know that kids her age should not know what those phrases mean. If her mother heard him, he would be down on his knees begging for forgiveness a long time ago, that is, if she was still alive. A wave of nostalgia washed over Sakura, but she just shook it away.

She hurriedly turned the water off and stepped out of the bathtub, ignoring the puddles forming on the tiled floor. She looked at herself, her hair was messed, her skin was a flaming red and her tank top and pants with little clouds and penguins (YAY, go Davie! Coz penguins just rocks. Lol.) were soaked and sticking to her body.

Sakura growled and ripped off her clothes, and threw them into the laundry basket with force, stepped into the bathtub again, and turned on the knob that clearly said COLD. Water came gushing down again, at first it was a bit warm, but in less than five seconds, the water turned to its usual glacier coldness.

After soaking most of her anger away, Sakura stepped out of the shower. However, just as she stuck her foot out, she suddenly lost her balance and slipped, to fall right on her ass. Her head banged against the tub and she swore she saw Rock Lee with little angel wings flying around her head telling her that he'll make it alright again. Sakura snorted, fat chance of that happening.

"Ow" It didn't really hurt since Sakura was a ninja after all, and she's gotten way worse in missions or at training but her pride was wounded. She was a kunochi, one of the smartest over, she could rival Shikamaru's wit but here she is sitting on the bathroom floor because she tripped, like a common civilian. How utterly embarrassing.

Her head hurt even more when Inner Sakura screamed her outrage" You clumsy weasel girl! You're supposed to be a ninja! A ninja doesn't trip and fall, you pathetic turtle!"

"Kami-sama, what did I do to deserve this?" Sakura wondered miserably. She walked into her room and put on her new usual outfit, red mesh shirt with black cargos. She then carefully put on a star shaped charm an old fortuneteller had blessed for her. She would need all the luck she could get today.

Sakura's stomach grumbled, interrupting her thinking, and made her walk into the kitchen. The kitchen clock now read 12:47. Her meeting with Tsunade-sama was at 3. She had two hours to get ready. Plenty of time, before, it took her hours to put on all sorts of face cream and cosmetics, but not anymore, she got rid of all those junk,

There wasn't that much to do, she just had to make lunch, eat it, go to the weapons shop to pick up her Arakshi and a new star shuriken almost a meter high and wide and somehow force luck to go her way.

Taking out a box of instant lasagna, she put it into the microwave and put it on high for five minutes. As she waited, she turned on the tv and collapsed on to the couch, as if exhausted, but she couldn't be, she had just gotten up.

After hearing the ding, she took the plastic container to the coffee table and sat there eating while watching the latest episode of Gundam Seed, which happened to be the episode where Asuran self destructs his gundam to kill Kira because Kira killed Nicole. It was pretty sad.

So by the time Sakura finished eating her lunch, it was 1:12 PM. She hurriedly threw out the rest of her food and got ready for training. She checked for the four almost flat kunais hidden in her combat boots. She also attached the length of shuriken sheath to her skin and put the newly sharpened shurikens in them. She also clipped on two emergency scrolls in case she'll need them.

Sakura's been really tense ever since the Chunnin Exam. Not that you can blame her. First she meets Orochimaru who's not fit to be in normal society, and then an insomniac demon molests her. Poor girl, she really got phreaked out during the last Chunnin Exam.

As Sakura rushed out the door, she grumbled, the morning did not start off very well for her, but with luck training with Tsunade-sama would be better.

She headed towards the weapons shop; it was owned and operated by a man who was a friend of her mother's doing her teen years. The man was almost like an uncle to her, he had offered to take her in when her parents died, but Sakura who was feeling rather stubborn at the time declined the offer. She was 12 already.

Logically, if you think about it, if she was old enough to go on missions where you can get killed, then she was old enough to live alone. But her kind almost an uncle would come and check up on her. He would always be appalled at her lack of real healthy food, all the preservatives in her instant food really isn't good for her, not that Sakura really cares.

She neared the shop and walked up to the door, gently pushing the door open, the chimes on the door tinkled as they announced a costumer. She walked in and was instantly engulfed with the smell of newly forged weapons and cold sharp metal.

"I'm here to pick up the weapons I ordered a week ago." Sakura asked the person behind the counter.

"Ah it's Sakura-chan! We haven't see you for such a long time. Oh you cute little girl, all grown up." Squealed her almost aunt. She really reminded Sakura of Ino-pig.

Her almost aunt took out a long wrapped canvas package out, Sakura hastily opened it and could only gasp. Gleam of cold deadly steel, delicately carved runes and a sharp point that promised pain.

OK PAUSE! An arakshi is an actual weapon I've seen in a lot of Chinese Kung Fu movies and tv shows I don't have a English or Japanese name for it, so I just made something up. It looks like a z and it's reflection with the middle being long enough for two hands to hold it. You can swing it like a sword except it's double edged. Some of the ones I've seen can split apart in the middle, and have a long thin wire come out. Kind of like chakra strings I guess. Wow, it's really confusing. And the weapon isn't that big either since it folds up in the middle, about two feet long ish. I'm not making any sense am I? Well I just thought this was a really cool weapon and wanted to add it in there. BACK TO THE STORY!

This definitely raised Sakura's spirits by a couple notches. A new weapon for a ninja was like giving a baby a huge tasty lollipop. This morning's woes forgotten, Sakura face skipped her way to the Hokage's tower with a big grin on her face.

Skipping past Tsunade's secretary, asking Sakura to wake up the Godaime so she could have the new mission roosters sorted out. Past a couple chunnins carrying old musky scrolls of various jutsus and skipped right into her office...

To find Tsunade slumped over her desk, a couple sake bottles spread across her desk, some cracked, some still intact with sake in it. Sakura debated with herself whether she should drink some while the Hokage was passed out.

"Hell ya girl! Be a rebel and break those rules!" Inner Sakura cheered inside Sakura's head.

To hell with her rep, she grabbed one of the bottles and took a big swig. Apparently, no one has taught Sakura how to drink sake properly. Sake is about 70 alcohol, which is why people don't chug sake. Bad move on Sakura's part.

The fiery liquid burned down her throat. Her head spun for a second and then everything was brighter, sparkles showered from the sky and there was purple rabbits hopping at the corner of her eye. Sakura did not have a high tolerance for alcohol. She also lacked the common sense to drink alcohol properly. Even with one swallow, Haruno Sakura was drunk,

Sakura was a special girl, even when she's drunk, her common sense overruled the devil perched on her left shoulder. While the devil was trying to tell her to chug more of the sake down, the logic in her brain said that that was enough. Thank kami her common sense won in the end.

At that time, Tsunade woke up. Within a second, Sakura pulled back into the perfect smartass girl that everyone thinks she is. "Good afternoon Hokage-sama, did you get drunk and pass out again?" Ok, maybe not so perfect, but at least honest and to the point.

"Bleh? What's going on?" asked a very wasted looking Godaime. "Oh Sakura, right, I think I'm supposed to be training you."

"Ya think? You drunk good for nothing slut of a Hokage!" Screamed Inner Sakura, clearly pissed off that she was forgotten.

Sakura was annoyed as well, what kind of Hokage gets drunk in the middle of a working day, forgets their responsibility as a teacher and mentor and drools on important documents like a baby. Truly pathetic for a Hokage. If the stuffy old grouch Sadaime were still here, he'd have a stroke by now.

Tsunade just shrugged, "Go into that room and get The Hagane Scrolls I III and read them over. Official training starts tomorrow at 7 AM." Apparently, she still hasn't noticed Sakura's drunken state since she was wasted herself.

Rows upon rows of scrolls, leather bounded books and stacks of parchment. This place looks like The Great Alexandria Library before it was burned down. (A.k.a. The author's room cause that is exactly how my room looks.).

Looking at this, Sakura was thoroughly confused, "How the hell was she supposed to find 3 measly scrolls?"

There was a sudden bump, Sakura tensed. Slowly and silently she drew one of her kunais. There was a crash and then came a groan of pain. Sakura rushed towards the noise ready for battle.

Sakura was not scared, so not scared. This was in the middle of the Konoha Administration Building, one of the most secure buildings in all of Fire Country. There was no chance that an enemy or a missing nin could have slipped in here, right? So there was no reason for her to be this paranoid and scared.

This logic sounded fine in Sakura's head, but she just couldn't make herself and move towards what ever made that sound.

"Oh my god, this is so STUPID! I am brave, I'm a ninja. Not some kunochi straight out of the Academy, but someone who have endured more than a normal Gennin, so going to check out some random sounds in a safe, secure library is no problem for me." So with that thought, she barged in.

And saw the back of a girl, someone she couldn't place, but seemed eerily familiar to Sakura. I mean she didn't personally _know_ her, but there was strange about the girl, something about her muscular components did not add up. But one thing was for sure, this person did not look like she had the authority to be here. Which explains what Sakura did next.

She jumped on the girl from the behind, jumped on her and tackled to the ground just like how a professional football player would. Somehow in the middle of the tackle, they both slipped and ended up with Sakura straddling the girl while lips were locked.

Have you ever experienced a moment when your brain freezes, you can't breath and you know everything will plummet straight down to hell? Now imagine if you were Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Neji at that moment. Exactly.

Wow, I didn't really want to do a cliffy, But so many people wanted to read the next chapter of this fanfic and I'm really flattered too because I thought this was just going to turn out to be one of those crappy fanfics that gets one or two reviews. But don't worry because I already started on the next chapter. So keep on reviewing and prodding me to write more.

Well since the author's are not allowed to personally answer reviews in each of the chapters, I would like to write a BIG general thank you to everyone who read this story and reviewed. Also cookies to those who kept on prodding me to update, you know who you are and so thank you! I was so on the edge of giving up but then you guys all had comments like "Please update soon" and "You haven't updated in the LONGEST time" and I was so touched. So thank you.

By the way, nobody wants to beta for me, how sad is that?

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! So please do, 42 times, since that's the answer to the meaning of

Merffles


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